Spool device



Oct. 11, 1955 G. STROCCO W //v VENTOR 3 Sheets-Sheet l STROCCO.

By ATTORNEY Oct. 11, 1955 Filed Feb. 29. 1952 G. STROCCO SPOOL DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 llVVE/VTOR GENE STROCCD ATTORNEY Oct. 11, 1955 s oc co- 2,720,179

SPOOL DEVICE Filed Feb. 29. 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOI? GENE STROCCO. BY 5%. -4

ATTORNEY United States Patent SPOOL DEVICE Gene Strocco, Whitestone, N. Y.

Application February 29, 1952, Serial No. 274,081

3 Claims. (Cl. 112-251) This invention relates to spools, and more particularly to sewing machine bobbins having a wound mass of thread or cop supported by a core or traverse and flanked by end discs.

Because of the need to provide spools of the above class at a relatively low cost, most manufacturers of such devices employ inexpensive paper or fibre materials as the core and disc components. Since such materials are normally comparatively non-resilient and not adapted to be secured together by ordinary fastening means, various special expedients have heretofore been employed to effect an assembly of such components. Among these are complicated pressing machines with special dies adapted for the purpose, and metal clamps connecting the traverse with the discs. Despite the use of such expedients, the final product frequently does not have the desired prop erties of resiliency and permanence. Where the end discs or heads are made of non-resilient material, they may not be in sufiicient pressing engagement with the wound mass as is generally desirable in sp'ools, particularly in bobbins for sewing machines. To overcome this deficiency, it has thus been necessary to resort to special pressing methods for forcing the end pieces into firm contact with the wound mass; but it has been found that because of the non-resilient nature of materials employed in such processes, the tension is not always maintained during the operative life of the device. And it has also been found that after the wound mass had been completely used up, the empty bobbin can not be rewound by the user so as to provide the proper engagement between the end discs and the newly wound mass.

It is primarily within the contemplation of my invention to provide a new and improved spool of this category which will be highly effective for its intended purpose, but which will have none of the disadvantages above-mentioned. More specifically, it is an object of my invention to provide a spool or bobbin with components that can readily be assembled by a simple pressing operation, whereby not only will the said components be firmly held together, but in addition thereto, the wound mass will be in proper pressing engagement with the end pieces, without the use of complex tools and dies for effecting a compressive engagement, between the end pieces and the wound mass, as is necessary with certain conventional devices. And in this aspect of my invention it is an ob ject to provide a combination of a special form of tubular core or barrel and two oppositely positioned preformed end members, each of said members containing an inwardly extending hub frictionally engageable with the interior surface of the core and an end disc element of such contour and resiliency as to enable it to be in proper pressing engagement with the wound mass.

It is also an object of my invention to provide end pieces of such special shapes and so disposed with reference to the core as to prevent the thread from being caught between the Wound mass and the end pieces during the unwinding operation, an occurrence which frequently happens in certain conventional spools.

2,720,179 Patented Oct. 11, 1955 It also happens, in the production of conventional bobbins particularly of the type produced on a mass production basis, that there is either insufiicient compression between the wound mass and the end discs or too much compression, this being due to the fact that there may be variations in the width of the wound mass, either due to variations in thread thickness, atmospheric conditions or conditions occurring during the winding operation. It is sometimes necessary, in order to overcome such conditions, that different lengths of cores or barrels be employed, particularly to accommodate threads of different gauges. It is one of the objects of my invention to obviate this necessity, by providing a novel form of core member which will contract in length under the pressure of the end members, until the desired tension is obtained between the wound mass and the end discs.

Manufacturers are now limited to one size core, for each size of bobbin. Hence when it is desired to reduce the length of thread on the bobbin, a possible erroneous impression could be created that the bobbin had been partly used. Furthermore, with a thinner wound mass, the end discs are in danger of collapse. It is an object of my invention, in one of the aspects thereof, to eliminate this shortcoming by providing a novel form of core that can have a relatively large outside diameter, and nevertheless contain a relatively small mass of the material that constitutes the core, thereby providing for economy in core production.

It is still another object of my invention to provide a spool which may readily be re-used after the original mass of thread has been used up.

Other objects, features and advantages will appear from the drawings and the description hereinafter given.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a disassembled elevational view, partly in section, of the three main components of my invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary elevational view, partly in section, of the components of Figure 1 in assembled relation.

Figure 3 is a side view of Figure 1.

Figure 4- is an enlarged sectional view of the components of my invention in the process of being assembled by means of two oppositely positioned dies, shown partly in section, forcing the end members into the core, the hubs of said end members being shown in their innermost positions, and the flanges of said end members being shown slightly deformed from their normal dot-dash position to their illustrated full line position.

Figure 5 is a view substantially like Figure 4, but showing the dies in their retracted positions, the end members being shown in their final operative position, the dot-dash lines showing the position of the flanges of the end members before the retraction of the dies.

Figure 6 is a part sectional, part elevational view of a fragment of my invention showing one end member in a position slightly before the beginning of the curling operation in accordance with the method of my invention.

Figure 7 is a front elevational view of one form of the core component of my invention, before the curling operation.

Figure 8 is an end view of Figure 7.

Figure 9 is an elevational view like Figure 7, but showing the peripheral sections in their operatively curled positions.

Figure 10 is a fragmentary sectional view of a modified form of core and end member, before the beginning of the curling operation.

Figure 11 is a view like Figure 10 after the curling operation.

Figure 12 is an end view, partly in section, of another modified form of core member, the section being taken along line 12-12 of Figure 13.

Figure 13 is a front elevational view of the device of Figure 12.

Figure 14 is a disassembled view of the three components of still another form of my invention, shown partly in elevation and partly in section.

Figure 15 is an end view of Figure 14.

Figure 16 is an assembled sectional view of the components of Figure 14, the broken lines showing the flanges deformed by the action of dies similar to those shown in Figure 4.

In the form of my invention illustrated there are three components, a core or barrel 15 and two oppositely positioned end members 16 and 17.

The core, made of plastic or other relatively stiff and somewhat resilient material, is preferably of tubular configuration having a thin cylindrical wall 18 and two openended portions 19 and 20 defined by the scalloped edges 21 and 22, respectively. Each of the said scalloped edges consists of a plurality of circumferentially disposed peripheral sections 23 connected at juncture points 24, whereby said sections constitute separated lips or end projections.

Each of the end members 16 and 17 comprises an inwardly extending hollow hub 25 and an end disc element 26 the diameter of the outer peripheral edge 27 thereof being of predetermined standard dimensions and greater than the diameter of the outer surface 28 of the core 15. The outer surface 29 of the hub is closely fitted to the inner wall 30 of the core 15, so as to provide a slidable friction fit, the diameter of the inner wall 31 of the hub being of a predetermined standard dimension for accommodating a standard bobbin shaft.

The outer surface 32 of each disc element is convexly curved, so that when the two end members 16 and 17 are operatively positioned at opposite ends of the core 15, the flanged portions 33 are inclined toward each other. It is preferred that the members 16 and 17, or at least the flanges 33 thereof, be of resilient material, so that they may be capable .of exerting a yieldable pressure upon the sides 34 of the cop or wound mass of yarn 35, as will more clearly hereinafter appear.

It is also desired that the peripheral edges 27 be closer together than the opposite outer corner edges 36, whereby the flanges 33 overlap the cop 35. The arrangement is hence such that the said flanges and their peripheral edge portions 27 will engage a thread 37 being unwound from the cop (see Fig. 2) and thereby tend to keep it from being caught between said corners 36 and the flanges 33.

In operatively assembling the three said components of the spool, the hubs 25 are inserted within the axial opening in core 15 over which is disposed the wound mass and then inward pressure is applied against the outer convex surfaces 26, slightly deforming the flanges. Such pressure maybe applied by any known means, such as the two dies 38 urged towards each other by a suitable pressing mechanism, a descriptionwhereof is not deemed necessary for the purpose of this specification, since it maybe of any type known to those skilled in the art. As the members 16 and 17 move inwardly, the fillets or curved junctures 39 engage the scalloped sections 23 at the peripheral edges 21 and 22 of the core, curling them outwardly away from the axis of the core (Fig. 4). As the pressure continues, the root or juncture portions 24 of the scalloped sections are forced open and the material in the region of such points is progressively ripped open and severed along longitudinal lines so as to form longitudinal slits 40 separating adjacent sections 23. These sections thus become progressively elongated under the continued pressure, curling outwardly in increasing lengths whereby they act as lips engaging the sides of the cop (Figs. 4 and 9).

As the end members 16 and 17 move inwardly under the pressure, the flanges 33, slightly deformed by the dies, exert a yieldable pressure upon the cop 35, causing the mass to be compressed when the end members with their flanges reach their innermost predetermined positions, indicated by the dot-dash lines 33a in Fig. 5. Upon a release of the pressure, the natural resiliency of the compressed mass of wound yarn will force the said end members and their flanges 33 back slightly, to the final full-line positions shown in said Fig. 5. It is thus obvious that in the final position, the wound mass 35 is firmly held between the said flanges 33 which exert a continuous pressure thereupon.

It should be noted that both hubs 25 are provided with a circumfrerential bead 41 adapted to fit into the circumferential recesses 42 on the inner surface 30 of the core. The said inward pressure is suflicient to force the beads 41 inwardly past the recesses 42 to the positions shown in Fig. 4, the slot 45 permitting a slight variation in the diameter of the hub to facilitate such movement; and upon a release of the pressure, when the end members 16 and- 17 are forced back by the resiliency of the compressed cop to their said final positions, the beads 41 are disposed within the recesses to lock the said members in said final position relative to the core. It should be noted that the length of each of the hubs '25 is such that there is always a space 44 between the inner edges 43 thereof when the said edges are in their predetermined innermost positions of Fig. 4.

Instead of a bead 41, the outer surfaces 29 of the hubs may be slightly roughened or serrated, as indicated by the serrated surface 29a in Fig. 10, so as to provide a suitable frictional engagement with the inner surface of the core 15a.

It is thus apparent that the spool of my invention can readily be fabricated by a simple pressing operation of three preformed partsthe operative assembling of the three components causing a desirable yieldable compressive engagement of the end discs and the cop. And the combination is such that in my novel method of assembling the said components, the core can be contracted to one of reduced predetermined length, for the particular size of the spool being produced, whereby variations in cop width will be automatically accommodated.

Figures 12 and 13 illustrate a modified form of core 46 having a longitudinally fluted inner wall 47 with spaced recesses 48 extending therealong. The sections 49 of said inner wall 47, between the recesses, form an annular wall of predetermined diameter for accommodating a standard bobbin shaft (not shown). The outer end portions 50 of the core constitute scalloped edges corresponding to edges 21 and 22 of the form of my invention above described. It is preferred that the thickness of such end portions be less than the thickness of the heavy section ,51 of wall 47, and preferably substantially equal to the thickness of the thin section 52 of said wall, so as to provide relatively thin scalloped sections adapted for the curling operation above-mentioned.

This modified form of .core enables the outer wall 53 of the core to be of a desired relatively large diameter without the use of an excessively large mass of material-because of the recesses 48thereby reducing the weight and hence the cost of such a core. This construction is useful where it is desired to employ a relatively small amount of yarn in the cop mounted over the core, for there will thus be a smaller diameter difference between said outer surface and the periphery of a standard sized end disc, than is possible with cores having smaller outer core diameters. The use of this form of core thus obviates the danger 'of an illusion, possible with thinner cores, that a cop of shorter yarn length had been partly used.

In the modification illustrated in Figures 14, 15 and 16 the core 54, in its undeformed state, contains comparatively thin edge portions 21a and 22a. In this form of my invention there is a hollowed out annular groove 55 at the juncture between each of the disc elements 56 of the end members and the outer portion of the hub .57. The said annular groove 55 serves as a curling .die when inward pressure is applied to the end members, in the aforesaid manner, causing an inward deflection of the said edge portions 21a and 22a, towards the axis of the core, instead of outwardly and away from the axis as in the form first above described. Although edges 21a and 22a may be scalloped, if desired, the form illustrated shows the edges sufliciently thin so that they are crimped inwardly by the walls of the said annular groove 55. The arrangement is hence such that a locking effect is produced when the curled edge portions 21a and 220 are disposed within said annular grooves, thereby preventing a disengagement of the end members 58 and 59 from the core 54.

It will further be observed, in connection with the last form of my invention described, that the hollowed-out groove 55 results in a reduction in the thickness of each of the disc elements in the regions 60, between the groove 55 and the outer edge 61 of each disc element. Due to this region of reduced thickness, the flexibility of each disc element is increased, since the operative deflection thereof under the influence of suitable pressing dies would start from the comparatively thin section of material in said region 60. There is thus a positive locking eflect between the end members and core, with the cop maintained in compression by the disc elements, in addition to the other advantages present in the form of my invention first above described.

In the above description, the invention has been disclosed merely by way of example and in preferred manner; but obviously many variations and modifications may be made therein. It is to be understood, therefore, that the invention is not limited to any specific form or manner of practicing same, except insofar as such limitations are specified in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a spool device, a hollow core with an axial opening extending therethrough, a mass of thread wound over the core and constituting a cop, and a combination tool and end member having a hub and a disc element dis posed at the outer end of the hub, there being an axial shaft passageway extending through said hub and disc element, the hub extending into said opening of the core, the juncture of the disc element and the hub being an annular concavely curved corner constituting a curling die portion, the peripheral end portion. of the core disposed over the hub being of equal thickness substantially throughout its peripheral extent and being in pressing engagement with said curling die portion and curled away from the longitudinal extent of the core.

2. In a spool device, the combination according to claim 1, the said peripheral curled end portion of the core extending in a direction away from the axis of the core.

3. In a spool device, the combination according to claim 1, the said peripheral curled end portion of the core extending in a direction towards the axis of the core.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

